If you don’t know what “Felcos” are, they are a brand that makes pruning tools like the hand pruners David Robles (second-year apprentice at the UCSC Farm & Garden) is holding in the photo above.

1. Before you start cutting any branches, learn how to identify the different buds your tree produces: fruit buds and vegetative buds. The Walden Effect has this brief resource for identifying buds on different kinds of trees.

3. For an overview of fruit tree pruning and training, start with UCSC Chadwick Garden Manager Orin Martin’s “Thoughts on Pruning & Training Deciduous Fruit Trees.” He describes the goals and methods of training and pruning, various pruning cuts, and the open center tree form in this article.

5. The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources has a website focused on Home Orchard Care. There’s a whole section on Pruning & Training that covers the basics of why we prune fruit trees, two major types of pruning cuts, different tree forms, how to prune overgrown trees, and much more.

7. Effective pruning requires not only the knowledge and skills of what to do, but also the right tools! Learn what pruning equipment Orin Martin recommends in his article, “Tools of the Fruit Tree Trade.” In addition to these tools, be sure to get a sturdy tripod orchard ladder if you have any trees that are too tall to prune from the ground.

9. Tree training–the shaping of branches by physically moving them to a different place–has its own set of tools, including stakes, string, weights, and notched spreaders. For the spreaders, you can make your own with lath from the lumber yard and cut notches into them, or buy metal ones (we recommend these). Learn how to train your tree branches by tying them to a stake or rock on the ground with this video: “How to train a new fruit tree” from Edible Backyard on Youtube.

13. Have an apple tree, or want to learn about other tree training forms? Scroll to page three of Orin Martin’s “Apple Trees for Every Garden” article for an introduction to winter pruning strategies for apple trees. Orin goes explains three tree forms you can achieve through different pruning and training techniques: Modified Central Leader, Slender Spindle System, and Vertical Axis/French Axe.

Fruit tree pruning is a skill that takes years of practice and experience to master, but the good news is that now is the time to start learning! Pay attention throughout the year to how your tree reacts to any pruning and training you do this winter.

You can winter prune your trees from November until early-March in the Santa Cruz area, or in the time between leaf fall and when the buds begin flowering. Winter pruning for most of us occurs in January or February.

You can train your trees throughout the year, although the earlier you can train new, supple growth, the more success you’ll have. Young tender branches can be moved dramatically without snapping, and while older branches can also be moved they do not move as much and are more difficult. Branches trained in spring will take weeks to “fix” in place, whereas branches trained in fall/winter will take longer because the sap isn’t flowing as actively.

Each year, continue to practice pruning and training by building upon what you learn from your previous attempts. It can help to have an experienced pruner around to talk through your approach when you’re getting started or reviewing how a tree has (or hasn’t) responded to your pruning strategy.

Once you’ve done some preliminary learning from books, the resources above, and/or watching experienced pruners, get out there and prune–it’s really the best way to understand! Once you start, you’ll find pruning can be a meditative and creative form of artistic expression, and you’ll be helping the tree realize its full, fruitful potential! If you do it right, the reward is oh so sweet–delicious, juicy fruit and lots of it!